And then I looked out of the window .......

 I hadn't been down the track for weeks, but 3 discrete piles of feathers alongside a stretch of hedge told their own story.

This is a classic sparrowhawk ambush location - fly low and hard along the arrow-straight hedgeline and grab the birds that get spooked into flying the wrong way.  

The track is little used so time to pluck and feast without disturbance. Despite the time I've spent here subsequently though I only ever saw one brief glimpse of a hawk in flight.

In the summer we could hear the begging calls of young raptors from a treeline, and I'm sure these were sparrowhawks too, but again I only ever once saw an adult powering over the fields.  Second year we have heard them.  Access to the trees might be possible, at least to look for evidence of a nest, so I'll add chatting to the landowners to the list for this winter, but the chance of getting good shots of the birds is probably very low.

However one day I was washing the dishes (honest) and saw this beauty sitting in the birch tree outside the window.  I know from past experience trying to shoot through glass is pretty useless, and opening a window this close would be likely to spook the bird.  Nipped upstairs and grabbed a camera and lens, sneaked out the back door and slowly poked the lens round the corner of the house.  The bird looked over at me then went back to staring into the tree canopy for it's next meal, completely unfazed. 

I tried edging round the corner a bit more and it remained quite relaxed.  In the end I was standing in front of the kitchen window and it just didn't care.  

The Good Old days

Suddenly proper outdoors time is at a premium, and it's tricky to keep an eye on what's happening even locally. Last years woodpecker hole, on the route of one of our regular walks, shows no signs of a nuthatch using it yet, despite them having a good look last year after the woodpeckers had moved out.

When I saw the nest last year (well as usual I heard it first) I had high hopes of some good photo opportunities, but this pair were clearly spooked by my presence despite best efforts, so I rapidly decided to leave them to it.

As it turned out I did get a chance to snap another nest. Again I found it when I heard the youngsters calling.  I'd been heading to see a wood warbler that had belatedly arrived in the 'usual' spot, but decided instead to spend the session with the GSW's.  Fortunately this pair were much more accommodating and rapidly settled into a pattern of regular feeding visits to some well developed youngsters, and although the light levels were a bit low and the leaf cover lent a green colour cast to many of the pics I did get some ok shots.  If you look at the big versions you might even see some woodpecker spit!

The tree had 3 or 4 older nest holes (you can see another in these shots), so was clearly seen as a good nest site.  I only had the one session before they fledged, but I had hoped to check it again this year.  However the Forest of Dean is sadly well beyond reach during lockdown.  I have spotted a hole that I think is new and in use near another of our daily walks - now that might be do-able if things relax a little bit, but I have doubts that I will be re-retired in time to take good advantage.

Stay safe.

Forest of Dean - just a little late!

It's been months since I posted here, and I have come the conclusion that I either get back into the Blog now or just drop it altogether, so let's try again. Just forgive me for the untimely posting!

2019 was a funny year. Having retired I expected to get a lot more snapping done, but life intervened and if anything I was down on opportunities.  One principal target for the year was due to be the woodland migrants in the Forest of Dean - wood warbler, pied and spotted flycatcher and redstart.  In the end I was probably lucky to get any pics at all.  My preferred venue was very slow - none of the usual spotted flycatchers, and although I heard the odd redstart I didn't find a clear territory.

The old hawthorn didn't have any nests but another old favourite nest hole was occupied by a nuthatch family this year, just frustratingly high up.

It was satisfying a few weeks later to see a couple of the youngsters still in the vicinity, their heads more rounded than that of the adults, but otherwise the classic nuthatch poses were all there.

A couple of friends were passing through and I feared I would have nothing to show them, but in the end we stumbled across a pair of pied flycatchers establishing a territory,

and had a visit from a handsome male redstart snapped handheld through a hide window.

In the field I was pleased to see bluebells around when we were snapping the pied flycatchers, but whilst I like the flower stems with enough shape to show as bluebells I'm not sure if the blue blobs in the background detract rather than add value.

I did find one other male pied flycatcher trying to attract a female to a nest hole, but it was right at a busy public car park, and in the end I didn't get to revisit.

As for the wood warblers, again my 'traditional' sites seemed to be vacant, but more of that next time …...